In mid June 2012, during the taping of an episode of The Graham Norton Show, a heated exchange occurred between host Graham Norton and guest Russell Brand after Norton brought up Brand's ex-wife singer Katy Perry (who had only recently divorced Brand), and stating that he thought Brand had been "very dignified" about the divorce. Ignoring the statement, Brand turned to the audience for a moment, and then lashed out at Norton, stating that he had stabbed Brand in the back, and saying "My mum is here. She got upset when you dragged up my marriage". He continued with "I saw her cry, Graham. That’s the reality because it’s real people, Graham, that’s my real mum. I have come here to promote a film and you made my mum cry. I don’t see you as that sort of person, Graham". Norton, taken aback replied "I don’t see myself as that kind of person". Brand quickly followed up with "and yet you are".

Norton then hurriedly explained that Perry had been on the show the week beforehand, and stated "If I had not asked anything it would have been weird". Brand scoffed back "Will people sit and think ‘Oh that’s odd?’" continuing with "What I would have done, mate, in your position is come up to me before the show and gone ‘Eh, listen it’s a bit odd your ex-missus was on last week. I might mention it, is that OK?’ But in all of the chatting and the research backstage, no one mentioned it". Norton then managed to defuse the situation by stating "Well, I’m sorry" and continuing the interview.

Brand made a vague reference to the incident when he met the Dalai Lama later the same week, stating that someone had recently been rude to him. The Dalai Lama advised Brand to forgive the person for their wrongdoings, Brand replying with "I think the action was wrong, the person was rude. I can forgive the human being but still resist the action?". The Dalai Lama answered simply "That is right".

Despite the incident receiving international news coverage, when the episode aired on the 15th of June, the entire confrontation had been cut from the broadcast. The show's publicist Mary Collins has stated that the scene was cut for "quality reasons", and not because of the confrontation that had occurred, although many believe otherwise. As of yet, no footage of the incident has been released.